Not Getting Scammed in the Philippines — Update 1
Table of contents for Philippine Scams
- Never Get Scammed in the Philippines
- Not Getting Scammed in the Philippines — Update 1
- Not Getting Scammed in the Philippines — Update 2
Here’s a little news item I my dear wife pointed out to me this afternoon:
The biggest law firm in the country allegedly fell victim to a multi-million-peso scam.
Sources in other law firms told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak that Sycip Salazar Hernandez Gatmaitan, one of the leading local law firms, was duped by a foreign client into advancing P50 million for a deal that would supposedly bring around P100 million to the firm’s earnings.
The law firm was reportedly promised five percent of its client’s $50 million-claim. However, in order to get their cut, the firm was first asked to advance P50 million…. read the full Philippine scam report article here
Once again, it would seem that an expereinced, educated attorney in a high-level management position fell victim to exactly what I wrote about recently regarding the key to virtually all scams, Philippine or elsewhere … getting money that really wasn’t his .. or his firm’s.
photo credit: woodleywonderworks
Just advance us x amount of money and you too will benefit from money which was never yours in the first place.
The article goes on to outline a number of famous scams from recent Philippine history. Note the common theme … advance us some money and you’ll get more than you know is yours … a special deal for you to get ahead … insider information only. In plice terminology this is know as the advance-fee fraud scheme
Once agin I’ll maintain what I’ve often said, and what many notorous ‘confince men’ have said in the past … you can’t scam an honest man. If it is too good to be true … it is likely that it is.
Popularity: 45% [?]
Related posts:
- Not Getting Scammed in the Philippines — Update 2
- Not Getting Scammed In The Philippines — Update 3
- Never Get Scammed in the Philippines
- Update On Cheap Phone Calls
- Proof That My Philippine Business Advice is Sound
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
I guess the point to be had from this is.
DO NOT get into any legal problems in RP that you would need a “Sharp” Lawyer to get you out of.
Fully concur. However don’t think it’s a Filipino thing. According to the Secret Service records in the US, lawyers and bankers are both very prevalent in the list of US victims. Also a friend in Australia, which is after all a much smaller country population-wise than the US or the Philippines, had something like 100,000 reported cases in 2006 … and you can well imagine many people realize how their greed has tricked them and live on. never reporting the loss. The sad thing about those scams is, they work and they continue to work, no matter where tey are perpetrated. It’s the ’something for nothing’ mentality.
I have to do some digging for the refernce but I read a scholarly article last year that said there was a direct correlation in the US between education level and percentage of victims. Scams like this are hard to pull on someone like a truck driver or a plumber or … well how about a letter carrier? Folks at that level know you only get what you legally earn from the job (plus they seldom have access to other people’s money to put at risk) … but folks with advanced education frequently get trapped by the “I’m smart enough to get away with this” syndrome.
i always knew my poor scholarship and lack of formal education would be an advantage someday
Sounds like a Nigerian Scam!
Yep, exactly like what I wrote about a few days ago on not getting scammed. It’s even commonly called a’419′ scam, based on a whole section of public law the government of Nigeria enacted to try to stop the scams and salvage their reputation. Doesn’t seem to have had much success, though.
My Manila Bay Bridge project is still on track. A P10M investment will insure the future receipt of your share of bridge tolls for the thirty year period immediately following the bridge’s opening (projected opening: 2012). That would be a projected income stream until 2042! Inquiries welcome, either direct or through your lawyer.
Oy! Where’s my commission?
Hi Dave – “I’m smart enough to get away with this….”
How about we call it a Bernie Madoff scam?
Hi Bob, indeed. I think you missed my ariginal article on this scamming problem:
http://philfaqs.com/investing-there/never-get-scammed-in-the-philippines/
I explain my thoughts on why anyone who got scammed by Madoff had every reason to _know_ they were being scammed. Some people would argue, “It doesn’t matter if the market is down more thna 34%, I have the _right_ to earn 50% better thna all the other people in the world”.
true, I guess they have the _right_, but like those who followed “Bernie”, my question is, “How’s that working out for you?”
BTW, at least two more Philippine Rural Banks went T.u> yesterday. I hope those folks who were having such a good time promoting the too good to be true bonds are happy. Rough estimate of when PDIC will begin to reimburse the losses tat were covered? After the next election.
Hi Dave – Nope, I did catch your last article in the series….
OK I see. It was just my usual unclear writing I guess.